I am so sorry for the late update! Really, truly sorry! I have a tiny bit off an excuse, but it's a weak one. I just finished ToS; DoTNW the other day, and it was hard to get into the mindset of Lloyd from the first game. And since I have two scenes with him in this chapter, I had trouble getting it done.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. On with the story!
Chapter Ten
"Colette! Y-you heard that?" Crystal asked.
"Yeah. Was I not supposed to? Oh, I'm sorry! I was coming to find Kratos to let him know that you guys were looking for him, but I guess you beat me to it." Colette answered, and for a moment no one spoke.
"Hmm… so that must be why you're an angel." She said quietly, almost as though speaking to herself.
"An angel?" Crystal asked, looking to Kratos.
"Of course. You didn't know?"
"Why do you say that he's an angel?"
"Because I can sense it. Back at the Triet Ruins, I began to sense a lot of new things. It took me a few days to make sense of it all. But now I understand it." She explained. She looked a bit worried, afraid that Kratos would be angry with her.
Seeing her fear, Crystal went to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, Colette. We're not angry with you. Right, Kratos?" She said, sending a poignant look at Kratos.
"Of course not." He agreed, shooting Crystal a look that clearly said 'You thought I would be angry? It is not her fault.'
"But you mustn't tell anyone, Colette. Do you understand?" Crystal said next, and Colette nodded emphatically.
"I won't tell. I promise. I won't ever tell that you're an angel."
"An angel?" A voice echoed behind them.
The three turned to find a certain brunette swordsman looking very confused.
"Lloyd?"
"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Colette whimpered, looking like she was about to cry. Crystal put a hand on her shoulder again, and she tried to smile.
Lloyd stood silently for a moment, blinking slowly, before looking to Crystal.
"Um, hey… I was coming to find Kratos. Since you were looking for him, I wanted to let him know." He said, then shifted his eyes to Kratos.
"Are you really an angel?"
Kratos sighed almost inaudibly then nodded once, a quick up and down motion that was so slight it would have been easy to miss.
"Yes, I am."
"That's so cool!"
Leave it to Lloyd to look past the implications of such a claim and simply think of it as his new toy. This time Crystal and Kratos both sighed.
"Can I see your wings? You have wings, right? Do you fly? Can we see you fly? What about magic? Does this mean you can use stronger magic than you have been?" He asked in a rush, and when he finally paused to catch his breath Crystal spoke up.
"Lloyd, he's not going to entertain you by doing parlor tricks! Especially not in the middle of town square."
"Oh, right. Wait, what's a parlor trick?"
And Crystal's hand swiftly found it's way to her forehead.
"Lloyd, you need a dictionary."
"Hey!"
"Come on, let's go to the inn. We can talk there, okay?"
Once there, Lloyd turned to Kratos.
"So, why didn't you tell us you were an angel? It would have probably been easier to get the job of guarding Colette if you had just told us you were sent by Cruxis."
"Perhaps so, but would you have believed me if I had?"
"You have wings, right? You could have shown us your wings and that would have been proof. Hey, now that we're inside, can I see your wings now?"
"Not inside the inn Lloyd." Crystal put in before Kratos could say anything.
"Not inside, not outside… where exactly is an acceptable place for me to see them?"
"Did you ever think that maybe he doesn't want to show you his wings?" Crystal said, still not letting Kratos talk.
"Oh… I hadn't thought about that. Sorry, Kratos." Lloyd said, lowering his head.
"It is alright, Lloyd." Kratos answered, then turned to walk away.
Unfortunately, he was stopped at the door.
"Wait, you're really an angel?"
Genis and Raine stood there, with Lilly not far behind.
"Now this is just getting ridiculous." Crystal muttered.
"Yes, I am. Now that everyone is aware of that, I will excuse myself." Kratos sighed, and turned to leave.
"Actually, we should probably be heading out soon. I spoke to the priest in charge of the Tower of Mana, and he has given me the key. So we can go there at our convenience." Raine put in.
"But what about finding Crystal's family? That's what we came here for in the first place!" Colette asked.
"It's okay, Colette. I think that some time away might be a good thing right now." Crystal told her.
"But you didn't even meet your father!"
"I know, but if he's anything like Ichabod, then this isn't a good time. So I'll come back later."
So with that it was decided that they would leave, and head to the Tower of Mana. It was about an hour's walk from the town, and most of that time was spent in silence.
As they walked Kratos could feel the gaze of the others on him, and he knew there were mixed reactions to the news that he was an angel.
Lloyd and Genis thought it was something new and exciting, like a new toy put in front of them. It was almost like Lloyd's reaction to the Sorcerer's ring, and Kratos couldn't help but wonder if the boys' enthusiasm would soon wear off.
Colette already knew that he was an angel, though not that he was of Cruxis. Of, for that matter, what Cruxis really was. Kratos knew that she expected to die at the journey's end so this was, and yet wasn't, a surprise to the young girl.
Crystal already knew that he was an angel, and that he worked for Cruxis, so her reaction was one of relief. She had known his secret for a long time, and was unable to say anything, so now that everyone knew it was like the release of a burden to her.
Raine's reaction was hard to read. Sometimes she looked indifferent, yet there was a definite gleam in her eyes at other times. When Colette had received her wings, the Professor had demanded a thorough examination of them. She had even nearly extracted a feather from the poor girl's back!
Kratos cringed at the mere thought of that memory. Though he could withstand great amounts of pain, the forceful removal of one's wings was something he didn't care to experience twice.
Lilly was the most troubling of all. At times Kratos caught her looking at him almost like his late wife did, though not to the same extent seeing as she didn't know the whole truth. It hurt to see the look in her eyes, almost as if he had betrayed her in some way.
Kratos tried to tell himself that her opinion didn't matter, that he shouldn't care what she thought or felt, and at times he almost believed it. But it was a hollow victory. During the time they spent together he had come to care about her, not necessarily in a romantic sense but certainly as a friend.
He knew that it didn't matter, however, because at the end of their journey everyone would most likely hate him, except for Crystal.
0~0~0~0~0~0
"The Tower of Mana was built to view the Tower of Salvation, right?" Genis asked as the group walked.
"That's right. It's just like that book said, 'gazing up at the summit of the gods'. But that was before it became infested with monsters." Crystal answered, looking at her notes and wrinkling her nose at the 'monster infestation' comment.
"But the area around it is really pretty! At least, that's what I've heard…" Colette offered, smiling brightly.
"It sounds awesome! And come on, we can handle a few measly monsters."
"A few, sure. But I'm talking about more than 'a few'. A lot more. Like I said, it's been infested. There's no telling how many there are."
""Well, however many, we can handle it! We didn't come this far only to be turned back by a bunch of lousy monsters."
"Yeah, you're right." Crystal agreed, and the group fell silent again.
They arrived at the Tower grounds roughly half an hour later, and most of the group stopped to admire the beauty. The whole area looked like a garden, with beautiful flowers growing everywhere.
Wasting no time, Raine ran up the steps toward the entrance.
"Marvelous! So this is the Tower of Mana…built to gaze upon the Tower of Salvation! I simply must go inside!"
With that she unlocked the door, and the group went in. Once inside they looked around in awe. The walls were lined with shelves, which were covered in more books than could be imagined.
"Ohh! Just think of all the knowledge contained within those books!" Raine said with a sigh, and began skimming over the titles.
"Hey, it's the Oracle Stone!" Lloyd said as he looked at a pedestal in the middle of the room. In front of that was a strange device on the floor. There were three circles connected by wires and several long strips of metal.
"What is that?" Genis asked, standing in front of the device.
"A magic circle?" Lloyd offered.
"Well yeah, but what's it for?"
"Maybe it has something to do with opening the doors." Crystal said, standing in front of a sealed-off doorway. Raising a hand to the cold stone in her path, she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.
"There must be something about that platform that controls the doors. Colette, why don't you put your hand on the Oracle Stone and we'll see what happens."
"Okay!"
Once she had done so, the three circles on the floor lit up.
"Great, it didn't do anything!" Lloyd complained.
"Yes, it did. Go stand on that platform. Genis, go stand on the second one." Raine instructed as she went to stand on the remaining platform. As they did so, one of the doors opened. They quickly closed, however, when Lloyd stepped off the platform.
"Hey, it closed!"
"That means that three people have to stay behind to keep the door open while the others go further in. Lloyd, choose three people other than Colette to remain here."
As Lloyd considered who to leave behind he heard Raine quietly talking to herself.
"The Tower of Mana… I would love to study it…"
That made her the number one person to leave behind, in Lloyd's opinion. He couldn't have someone accompany them if they were only focused on studying the tower. It wouldn't be safe.
Next he considered Kratos. No, Kratos had to come. He was the best fighter the group had, so there was no way he could be left to guard the door.
With Raine staying behind, he needed a healer, so that left Lilly.
With his decision made, he turned to the group.
"Alright. Professor, Genis and Crystal, I need you to stay behind. Kratos and Lilly, you'll come with Colette and me, okay?"
The two nodded, and the other three took up position on the platform. When the door opened again, the Lloyd and the others set off.
As they moved through the next hallway they found a long stairway and began to climb. Lloyd and Colette led the way, chatting easily and seemingly oblivious to any tension between the two behind them.
Kratos and Lilly walked a few steps behind them, neither speaking. Kratos cast a sideways glance at Lilly, and found her to be staring straight ahead with a hard look in her eyes.
At one point she tripped on a cracked step and Kratos reached out to steady her.
"Thank you." She whispered, not even bothering to look at him.
With an almost inaudible sigh, Kratos stared straight ahead and focused on watching the children in front of him.
0~0~0~0~0~0
When Kratos released her arm, Lilly sighed. She knew she was being cold, that she should be understanding about him keeping the truth a secret. But she still felt a twinge of disappointment when she thought about it.
But was that really any different than her keeping her true bloodline a secret? She did it to protect herself, much like he probably did. She knew what it was like when people knew the truth about her, and it wasn't pretty. She could only assume that the same held true for Kratos.
She was being unfair.
Of course, knowing that didn't make it any easier. She knew that she had to talk to Kratos, but just like last time she was afraid. Shaking her head slightly, she couldn't help but wonder how she always got into such messes.
She could only hope that Kratos would be as understanding as he was last time.